The 24 most beautiful buildings in the world – as selected by Time Out

A cross-section that spans eras and continents. Here’s where to find the world’s most incredible pieces of architecture, according to Time Out. Among them is The Twist in Norway, designed by Bjarke Ingels — guest editor of Domus 2025.

A thousand-year-old library, a sanctuary suspended over a river, a museum-bridge, and a brutalist church along with temples, mausoleums, and UNESCO-listed mosques: Time Out’s new list of the 24 most beautiful buildings in the world is a curated exploration of global architecture that has shaped, and continues to shape, collective memory. From Asia to the Americas, each structure stands as a fusion of art, engineering, and cultural identity.

These are not just aesthetically outstanding buildings, but works that have left — or are destined to leave — a lasting mark across centuries or even millennia. Outstanding examples include the pyramids of Giza, the rock-carved Ad-Dayr in Petra, the Roman Pantheon, and the Taj Mahal, which opens the list: commissioned by Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal, it is still regarded today as one of the finest achievements of Mughal architecture.

From India, the list moves to Iceland, home to the Hallgrímskirkja cathedral in Reykjavík. Its striking silhouette was inspired by basalt columns formed by volcanic eruptions. Eight of the 24 selected works are located in Europe, such as the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris by Frank Gehry, a reinterpretation of the late 19th-century greenhouse, rendered in sweeping glass sails. Also featured is the Long Room of Trinity College in Dublin, the Kistefos Sculpture Park in Norway, and the Maggie’s Centre at St James’s Hospital in Leeds, an oncological care center designed to offer visual and emotional comfort through warm architecture and natural materials.. 

Africa is represented by two projects, vastly different in style and substance. The Komera Leadership Centre in Rwanda, designed to empower young women through space and education, and the Great Mosque of Djenné in Mali, built from sun-dried mud-brick, it exemplifies Sahelian architecture and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Remarkably, the mosque is re-plastered annually in a collective ritual called Crépissage de la Grand Mosquée, involving the entire community.

Here is the full list of the 24 selected buildings: 1. Taj Mahal, India 
2. Hallgrímskirkja, Iceland 
3. Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
4. Fallingwater, United States 
5. Ad-Dayr in Petra, Jordan 
6. Louis Vuitton Foundation, France 
7. Trinity College Library, Ireland 
8. Great Mosque of Djenné, Mali 
9. Nasir Ol Molk Mosque, Iran 
10. The Twist, Norway 
11. Sagrada Familia, Spain 
12. Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, Bangladesh 
13. Pantheon, Italy 
14. Palmenhaus, Schönbrunn Palace, Austria 
15. Bát Tràng Ceramic Community House, Vietnam 
16. Eldridge Street Museum, United States 
17. Las Lajas Shrine, Colombia 
18. Museum of Old and New Art (MONA), Australia 
19. Maggie's Centre, St James's Hospital, United Kingdom 
20. Baháʼí Temple of South America, Chile 
21. Futuna Chapel, New Zealand 
22. Komera Leadership Center, Rwanda 
23. National Holocaust Monument, Canada 
24. Enryaku-ji Temple, Japan

Great Mosque of Djenne, Mali Foto JM on Flickr

Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, Bangladesh Photo rushdi13 on Flickr

Louis Kahn

Fallingwater, USA Carol M. Highsmith - U.S. Library of Congress, Highsmith Archive. Photo Wikimedia Commons

Frank Lloyd Wright

Giza piramids, Egypt Photo Luigi Rosa

Hallgrímskirkja, Iceland Photo Dorde Drazic on Pexels

The Twist, Norway Photo Arvid Høidahla on Unsplash

Santuario de Las Lajas, Ipiales, Colombia Photo Ali Eminov on Flickr

Baháʼí Temple of South America, Chile Photo Wikimedia Commons

Taj Mahal, India Photo Jovyn Chamb from Unsplash

Ad-Dayr in Petra, Jordan Photo Radu Micu from Flickr

Trinity College Library, Ireland Photo Alex Block from Unsplash

Nasir Ol Molk Mosque, Iran Photo Matt Biddulph from Wikimedia Commons 

Sagrada Familia, Spain Photo rabbit75_fot from Adobe Stock

Palmenhaus, Schönbrunn Palace, Austria Courtesy Wikimedia Commons 

Louis Vuitton Foundation, France Photo dbrnjhrj from Adobe Stock

Pantheon, Rome Photo clemMTravel from Adobe Stock 

Eldridge Street Museum, United States Photo Geza Kurka from Adobe Stock